Women on wheels, but roadblocks remain

Shireen Ferozepurwalla was left speechless when, according to her, an official at the driving licence branch in Clifton told her last week they did not issue driving licences for motorcycles to females.

With no other choice, she shared her experience on social media. “He told me…’Aap nikal jaye yahan se. Bike ka licence nahi dete hum larkiyo ko. Aap aurat he aap gaari chalaye’ [Go away. We don’t give motorcycle licences to women. You are a woman, drive a car],” she tweeted.

Her tweets drew attention and scores voiced objection to the gender discrimination, with Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab ending up taking action.

“I got it [the license] within 10 minutes,” she told The Express Tribune on Friday. “When I posted about my experience on social media a day after my visit to the driving licence office, a senior branch official himself contacted me. I visited the office [again] and met DSP Imran Siddiqui, who handed over my licence to me within 10 minutes.”

Ferozepurwalla said that before leaving the office, she asked the DSP to instruct his officials not to discriminate against women.

But nobody is being denied any kind of licence, provided that they know driving and traffic rules, Siddiqui argued later, talking to The Express Tribune. “There is no gender discrimination [in the issuance of licences].”

The DSP said he had recently received a message from a female applicant, Fakeha Kausar, who told him she got her licence without any difficulty.

Confirming this to The Express Tribune, Kausar said, “I got licences for driving my car as well as motorcycle without any difficulty.”

Siddiqui said the Clifton branch issued at least 84 non-commercial and as many commercial licences daily, adding that each applicant had to pass multiple tests to get a licence.

“We [even] have female staff to deal with female applicants,” Siddiqui explained. “They help and guide women applicants in performing tests and getting licences without any difficulty and delay.”

The DSP then went on to say that he had asked Ferozepurwalla to point out the official who had denied her licence but she couldn’t identify him.

He said he believed that Ferozepurwalla went to the wrong counter or was not able to understand the official’s instructions. “She visited the counter issuing permanent licences when she needed a learning licence.”

When asked, Ferozepurwalla admitted that she, in fact, went to the wrong counter by mistake. “But the official should have guided me instead of telling me females cannot be issued motorcycle licences,” she pointed out.

While Ferozepurwalla’s issue has been resolved, it, once again, sheds light on the persistent gender discrimination women have been fighting on multiple fronts in Pakistan. Despite scores of movements and many marches, incidents like these reflect the deep-rooted gender discrimination that continues to plague the country.

Change may be taking place, but is the pace fast enough?

According to data available to The Express Tribune, just 480 motorcycle licences have been issued to women by the Clifton branch - the oldest one in the city - since 2018. Apart from this branch, there are two others in Nazimabad and Korangi.

According to Siddiqui, “The number of female [motorcycle] riders is going up as it is more affordable and easier to park,” as observed with more and more licences being issued to them in the city.

This was reiterated by traffic department officials, who said the ratio of female motorcycle riders was slowly increasing, adding that they found women to be more law-abiding.

“Girls, for the most part, follow traffic rules. They wear helmets and don’t cross speed limits,” said Muhammad Sajan, a traffic cop deployed at Teen Talwar.

Yet instances like the one reported by Ferozepurwalla continue to take place, raising questions about whether the country is ready to give its women more space and prepared to do away with gender discrimination.

As Ferozepurwalla tweeted, “Are we supposed to fight now for a driving license? Where are we headed? What century is this?”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2020